The one thing I have missed the most about American, besides Taco Bell, is pizza. Good old fashioned, greasy ,unhealthy piled high with toppings, or stuffed with toppings pizza. I would literally kill a man for a Bronx Bomber right now, and I could probably eat the whole thing myself in the 30 minute time limit. So when Lily went to Wuhan this weekend for her test, I told her I was jealous she was going to get to eat Pizza Hut. If I didn't have makeup classes I probably would have gone just to eat pizza. So I of course explained to Lily the best part about eating pizza is getting up the next morning and eating the cold leftovers, and in my opinion Pizza Hut makes a good next day pizza. So Lily being the awesome person that she is on Sunday after her exam, went to Pizza Hut and bought me a pizza. Then she got on the train at 11:00 p.m. to come back to Shiyan. So this morning during my class break at 9:30 I got to enjoy cold pizza. It might have been the most delicious thing I have eaten in a month, next to mango milkshakes in Qingdao. She got me a half and half with chicken on one side and bacon on the other, and I think everybody knows my strong love for bacon. Sadly I was only able to eat 5 of the 6 pieces so I convinced Lily to eat the other and eat it cold, she liked it. We finished the break by discussing the economic forces which are work right now in China, not exactly dinner conversation.
I was actually pondering a thought last night, and today's pizza experience has made me think on it a little more. That thought being. "What is American style food." In China anything from American or Europe is just considered Western Style food. However most food we eat in American has actually come from other countries along with the immigrants that actually make up our base population. As you are probably aware America is a squatter nation, 98% of all Americans can trace their history back to some other country, Native Americans/Indians excluded. In pure squatter fashion we even gave parts of the country away to people as long as they promised to live on it. So our food like our ethnicity is not our own but a mixture of many cultures. Which is why you can go to any mall food court or open the phone book and find foods from all over the world. Whereas in China there food is very homogeneous with the mixture being provided by different regions in the country. So everybody can think of the one food that represents a country right: China=rice, Japan=sushi, India=curry, Italy=pasta, England=fish&chips Germany=beer not really a food, Ireland=potatoes, Mexico=tacos, etc. American is really the only place where we don't really have an iconic food, now Nathans Hot Dogs would like you to think it is the hot dog so you but more, but the truth is we are a mix. However I think last night I might have discovered what is truly an American style that most people replicate from us. The Sandwich. Now think about it how many other countries can you think of that make food and put it between two pieces of bread. Not many right. Not only that we have taken the food from around the world and found a way to slap it into a bun, if you don't believe me go to your nearest sub place. Most of hem will have a terryaki style, meatball style, Sante Fe style and so on. In American we want to take everything and slap it between a bun or two slices of bread. Our most famous meal, Thanksgiving dinner, we eat more turkey in sandwiches for the week after Thanksgiving than we do on the actual day. We are a nation obsessed with the sandwich. Still don't believe, what are the 3 most popular fast food restaurants in America, McDonald's, Burger King, and Wendy's. What do they all serve, sandwiches. Hamburgers, chicken sandwiches, McRib sandwiches, heck Wendy's even sells cold cut sandwiches. Some people might argue that steak is the American food, but if you go to any restaurant they will have more sandwiches on the menu than steak. Unless you go to a steakhouse and even then they usually have a steakhouse burger or chicken sandwich on the menu. Don't believe me go to the big chains, Roadhouse, Outback, Chophouse they all have burgers on the menu. Heck Steak n' Shake has made a franchise out of making steaks into burgers. Still don't believe go hangout with your grandparents some time, they always want to get some sandwiches somewhere, or go do some landscaping on the way to the dump you stop for sandwiches, and I used to go to lunch with Dan Jewett a lot, we would go to Bw3's a wing place and he'd get...the chicken sandwich. now one guy does not an accurate testing sample make, but count yourself see how many sandwiches you eat a day.
The question then becomes why? The answer, eating a sandwich is quick and easy. There is little to no mess, you don't need silverware, and you can eat it on the go. It is a fact that Americans are the hardest working people in the world. Not that we are the most industrious but we have the worst hours. Americans on average take less vacation time than any other country in the world. China gives all of its workers a week off every six months, golden week they call it. During Chines New Year, really called the Spring Festival, I hear China shuts down for like two weeks. In America most people get a 30 minute to maybe 1 hour lunch break. In China they all get a break from 12-2 everyday. Most people go home and take naps or go shopping or do something fun. In America we have to scramble to get to the restaurant grab our food and go, because we are the clock. In a society were we never stop to take the time to actually enjoy our lives, we have created the perfect food to allow us to never slow down. When you can just grab a sack of burgers and eat those in 5 minutes then whats the point of having conversation over a meal. It's sad really, I like afternoon naps myself.
Some random thoughts:
It has gotten a bit chilly here, it was probably around 15-20 degrees today, since everyone in China ways 80 pounds and has the metabolism of my mom, they are all to cold to move.
The Yankees are up 3-1 in the Series, thank you very much.
I am giving all of my oral classes mid-terms this week and then we are watching The Shawshank Redemption and having a discussion about it. I really like that movie, but so far I have seen the first hour twice this week and I have 2 more times to go, its kinda brutal.
In all of my writing classes I have decided to show a movie as well, but I chose a movie based on a book. No not Lord of the Rings because tat would take up every class for the rest of the year. No I have chosen Watchmen. Which might seem like a funny choice to some of you but it was a genre changing novel, not just for graphic novels but for writing in general across all genres. While the movie may be a bit to long it actually follows the source material pretty faithfully. While most of us are to young to remember the Cold War, McCarthyism, and M.A.D. (mutually assured destruction.) and the fear and paranoia that was prevalent in America at that time, we are facing a similar crisis in America now. What happens when we let fear legislate our laws. I know some of you won't agree and some of you will, just play nice in the comments. Also it questions not only our motives but our rights and the means we take in punishing criminals. At the same time it also calls into question our hero worship factor, where we sometimes see someone from afar and choose to make him perfect when in fact they aren't, i.e. elected officials. Last but not least it brings into question the needs of the many versus the needs of the few. Do we sacrifice the few for the many?
Finn should be back today, thank Yahweh, because I am tired of taking care of Sim Sim!
I am typing this while not wearing any pants despite the cold weather outside, I am wearing shorts. Gotcha!
I can't just was the blankets that smell like Sim Sim, because A. they won't fit in my washer B. I have 3 of them C. they all have to air dry after which would take forever. Lily has advised me to always put my blankets out when it is sunny to let them air out, I told her it was too much work. So she has suggested that I hire one the poorer students to do stuff for me like clean my house, and I think I will let her air out my blankets. It would be nice to have a personal assistant. Yes I am that lazy. Heck Lily wants me to hire her to grade my exams, I might just let her.
I got a lot of Happy Halloween wishes this week, and then had to explain that Halloween really isn't that important. Since I am not 12 anymore and can't go Trick or Treating, an I have no desire to dress up and go to party and get hammered. So yippee for Halloween, just another scant 11 months before all the Spirit stores can open again. I am sure Foye and Dillon had a good time. Only Jewett knows what I am talking about.
Despite my repeated announcements it has come to my attention that some people are still confused about facebook. I can't access facebook, so please stop sending me stuff, I get a email like once a week from somebody that has commented about me, I can't read them sorry.
Last but not least I have a new video I am working on, that will go up pretty soon. Having done the train video I feel like I have raised the bar on myself and I need to go to a new level for the next one. So fear not one is coming and it is guaranteed to make Casey laugh. Which on a side note Casey and Du lao shi are coming to China on the first week of December and I will be going to Xi'an to see them. They just finished the China national highway to Xi'an for Shiyan and it should only take me about 4 hours to get there by bus. So I am looking forward to that and giving Casey a big sloppy, wet kiss!!
